Arsenic Trioxide in Treating Patients With Urothelial Cancer

Inclusion Criteria: * Diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, urethra, ureter or renal pelvis; histologic documentation of metastatic/recurrent disease is not required; clinical staging, but not pathological staging, is required * Patients must have relapsed from or failed to achieve a complete or partial response after one chemotherapy regimen, which must have included one of the following chemotherapy agents: cisplatin, carboplatin paclitaxel, or gemcitabine * \>= 4 weeks since prior RT or chemotherapy * Patients must have measurable disease * CTC (ECOG) Performance Status =\< 1 * No evidence of NYHA functional class III or IV heart disease * Baseline EKG with QTc \< 500 ms * Non-pregnant and not nursing, as chemotherapy is thought to present substantial risk to the fetus/infant; men and women of reproductive potential may not participate unless they have agreed to use an effective contraceptive method while in this study * Granulocytes \> 1500/ml * Platelet count \> 100,000/ml * Bilirubin =\< Upper limits of normal (ULN) * Serum Creatinine \< 2.0 x ULN